With cataract surgery, seeing is believing

One of the things we tend to fear the most as we age is diminishing vision.

We find we cannot do close work much anymore. Close work, to me, was doing crossword puzzles. I like to do them in ink and feel that I do well.

The last few months however, I have been finding that I can't read the small numbers at the start of each puzzle word. I have been putting the right answers into the wrong boxes. I would sometimes have to count across to discover where I was.

Not anymore. I went for my regular eye test and was told the usual "cover your eye and read the line on the chart." I covered my eye and looked toward the chart to begin reading. I couldn't even see the chart.

"That means your cataracts are ready to be removed," I was told.

My eye-doctor then got out a plastic model of an eye and showed me what had to be done. The entire lens of my eye would be removed and then he would drop a plastic "lens" into it that would be my new lens.

Yeah, sure. I was going to have to go through the business of having part of my eye ripped away and replaced by a hunk of plastic. That attitude left in a hurry because I spoke with someone who "couldn't wait" to have her second eye done.

Nevertheless, I was tense as I arrived at the hospital to have the cataract removed.

I left there less than two hours later with a patch over my eye and an appointment for the next day. The operation did not feel like much as I was awake but under mild sedation.

The next day at the doctor's office the patch was removed, and if the windows had been clean, I would have got a good look at Maine.

But I got a good look at everything else. I was handed a tote bag.

Like the rest of this world, a tote bag is not exactly an essential item. But this one had a pair of sunglasses, and I was told to use them at least out of doors. It also contained a clear plastic eye patch with the suggestion that I wear it at night so I would not rub the eye during sleep.

My wife brought the car around, and I sat next to her as she drove. Even through the sunglasses I was seeing everything a bit clearer, but I figured that was because the sun was shining. But in the evening paper, my eyes were able to see the numbers for each word in the puzzle.

The doctor had told me that cataracts were present, but now we could wait no longer.

Through friends I have learned that eyes are not ready until the insurance company says they are. I'm glad I am not one of the millions of Americans who doesn't have coverage.

Nobody's vision should depend on the dictates of an insurance company.

But there is also a personal reason for many who wish to put the operation off for as long as possible. That is fear of losing what vision we have. We don't like the risk.

Well, I am saying that the results are worth checking to see if you need work done.

Don't put off seeing a specialist until you can't see at all.

Keep in touch.

Richard Learned writes about seniors from his home in Meredith. He can be reached at wiseguy@metrocast.net.